How do I hook up Dish reciever so I can achieve surround sound? (1 Viewer)

[Mike3783]

I have Dish Network, and I'm wordering if I can get surround sound (where available) this way:

I connect the RCA cables from the dish reciever to the vcr/dvd player, and then connect the vcr/dvd player to the home theatre reciever using S-Video and Digital Audio connections.

Would that work so I can watch a ball game (or tv show) in surround sound, or is the only way achieve this is by having an optical audio connection?

Hope the question makes sense, thanks in advance.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Actual digital based surround sound (Dolby Digital in the case of TV) can only be passd by a digital connection (or 6 analog connections - 1 per channel). The RCA R/W cables can send Dolby Pro-Logic, which is an older surround format that uses a matrix in the R/L analog audio to derive a center channel and a mono surround, but it pales in comparison to DD. So, switch your receiver to Pro-Logic (or Pro-Logic II, if you have it) and see if the surround is there (some shows use it, some don't). To get true Dolby Digital, you have to upgrade to a new box with a digital audio out (coax or optical). However, almost no shows outside of premium channels (HBO, etc.) and HD broadcast in Dolby Digital. To fully realize the benefits of digital surround like you get with DVD, you need a High Definition setup.

PS, hooking the sat recevier through the VCR/DVD optical connection does not help. It just sends a digital version of the analog Pro-Logic to the receiver (if it works at all, it may not).